Closed Body Language

A significant cluster of body movements are all about closing. This is
sometimes misinterpreted solely as indicating defensiveness.

Language of closure

Closure literally closes the body up. It may range from a slight bringing
together of the limbs to curled up into a tight ball. Extreme cases may also
include rhythmic rocking of the body to and fro.

Arms across

In a closed positions one or both arms cross the central line of the body.
They may be folded or tightly clasped or holding one another. There may also be
holding one another.

Lighter arm crossing may include resting an arm on a table or leg, or loosely
crossed with wrists crossing.

Varying levels of tension may be seen in the arms and shoulders, from a
relaxed droop to tight tension and holding on to the body or other arms.

Legs across

Legs, likewise can be crossed. There are several styles of leg crossing,
including the ankle cross, the knee cross, the figure-four (ankle on opposite
knee) and the tense wrap-around.

Legs may also wrap around convenient other objects, such as chair legs.

When legs are crossed but arms are not, it can show deliberate attempts to
appear relaxed. This is particularly true when legs are hidden under a table.

Looking down or away

The head may be inclined away from the person, and particularly may be tucked
down.

Reasons for closing

There can be several reasons for closed body language. This is one reason why
reading body language can be hazardous and you should take into account other
factors. In particular look for the transition when the body closes and the
triggers that may have caused this change.

Defending

When we feel threatened, our body language becomes defensive. We use closure
to place the barriers of our arms and legs across in front of us to defend
ourselves from attack. When we close, we also make our body smaller, reducing
the size of the target. When we tuck our chin down, we are protecting the
exposed throat.

We also may be signaling to the other person that we are not a threat to
them. Thus the held-in arms shows that we are not attacking and looking away
from them removes aggressive staring.

In a variant of this, particularly where the person is holding themselves, a
closed position may indicate self-nurturing. The person is effectively holding
or hugging themselves in an imitation of a parent or other caring person.

Hiding

Closing also may serve the purpose of hiding something that we do not want
the other person to see. Holding the body still prevents it from betraying our
thoughts. Looking away prevents the other person from seeing our expression that
may show dislike or lying.

Cold

A more pragmatic form of closure is when we are cold. Huddling up reduces
exposed body area and reduces heat loss. Holding warmer parts of the body
against colder parts evens the temperature and prevents extremities from being
chilled too much.

Relaxing

And we also cross our arms and legs when we are relaxing. It can just be a
comfortable place to put those gangly limbs. We may look away because we are
thinking, nothing more.

Opening

When you are trying to persuade a person, then their standing or sitting in a
closed position is usually a signal that they are not ready to be persuaded.
Moving them to an open position can significantly increase your chances of
persuading them.

Force hand use

A common method sales people use to break a crossed-arms closed position is
to give the person something to hold or otherwise ask them to use their hands,
for example asking them to hand over something, turn over a page, stand up and
so on.

Following

The other common method of opening a person is to first adopt a closed
position like them. Then some effort is put into building a
bond with them, such that they start
to like you and are attaching their
identity to yours.
Finally, you then open your position, unfolding arms and legs. If they are
sufficiently bonded then they will follow you.

This should be done naturally and steadily, for example unfolding your arms
in order to use your hands to illustrate what you are saying. If they do not
follow you, return to the closed position and work further at bonding before
trying again.